Twinlakes Theme Park
Twinlakes Theme Park is a family-oriented adventure and theme park situated in the rural Leicestershire countryside near Melton Mowbray. It caters primarily to younger children and families, positioning itself as a destination that combines traditional fairground-style rides with farm animal experiences, water-based attractions, and imaginative play areas. Unlike the larger, more intense theme parks of the UK such as Alton Towers or Thorpe Park, Twinlakes deliberately cultivates a gentler, more accessible atmosphere aimed at children roughly between the ages of two and twelve, making it a popular choice for family day trips across the East Midlands region. Its blend of rides, animals, and themed zones gives it a character that feels somewhere between a classic British funfair, a farm park, and a modest theme park, which is much of its appeal to its loyal regional audience.
The park takes its name from two lakes that sit within its grounds, giving the landscape a distinctive open, pastoral feel unusual among theme parks, which more commonly fill every inch with infrastructure and theming. These bodies of water contribute both to the visual charm of the site and to some of its water-based attractions. The surrounding land is quintessentially English Midlands countryside — gently rolling, hedge-lined, and agricultural — and the park itself retains a sense of being embedded in a working rural landscape rather than existing as a hermetically sealed entertainment environment. This gives visits a certain breezy, outdoorsy quality, particularly enjoyable on fine summer days when the space feels genuinely generous.
Among the park's most notable features are its themed ride areas and adventure zones, which have been expanded and refreshed over the years to keep pace with visitor expectations. Rides tend to be family-friendly in scale — gentle rollercoasters, spinning rides, water rides — rather than white-knuckle attractions, which is a deliberate choice that keeps the experience accessible to very young children. The farm animal area is a perennial favourite, allowing close contact with goats, sheep, pigs, and other livestock, which adds an educational and tactile dimension that separates Twinlakes from purely mechanical entertainment. Seasonal events, including Halloween-themed activity in autumn and Christmas experiences in winter, have become an important part of the park's calendar and draw significant additional visitor numbers.
Twinlakes is located very close to Melton Mowbray, a market town famous throughout Britain and beyond as the home of the Melton Mowbray pork pie and also closely associated with Stilton cheese production. The proximity to such a celebrated food destination means visitors often combine a trip to the park with a visit to the town's market, specialist food shops, or local pubs. The wider area is part of the Vale of Belvoir, a gentle and historically rich valley landscape that stretches toward the Lincolnshire border, and is popular with cyclists and walkers. Belvoir Castle, the ancestral seat of the Duke of Rutland, is only a short drive away and provides a dramatically different kind of family excursion that pairs naturally with a Twinlakes visit.
In terms of practicalities, the park is most easily accessed by car, sitting just off the A606 road that connects Melton Mowbray to Nottingham. Parking on site is ample and generally included in the visit. Public transport access is limited given the rural location, so driving is strongly recommended for most visitors. The park is typically open from spring through to autumn for its main season, with additional seasonal event openings around Halloween and Christmas. Booking tickets in advance online is advisable, particularly for peak summer weekends and during the popular seasonal events when capacity can be reached. The site is largely accessible for pushchairs and wheelchairs across its main pathways, which is an important consideration given its core family audience with very young children.